Access-A-Ride (AAR) is an accessible transportation
system operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) for people who
cannot use subways and buses due to their disabilities. The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the providers of public transportation to
provide comparable public transit services to people with disabilities. People
who are unable to take public transit due to a psychiatric disability are
eligible for AAR, but they might face particular problems in the application,
assessment, and appeal process.

Applications

Although the application can be found on the MTA website
at http://www.mta.info/nyct/paratran/access_application.pdf,
the MTA has told MFY that they only accept applications mailed to the applicant
by the MTA. Therefore, applicants should call 877-337-2017 to obtain the
application and an appointment for an in-person assessment. The application
requests, but does not require, medical documentation. However, an applicant
should provide a detailed letter from her treating psychiatrist or therapist
describing the applicant's functional limitations. A letter stating a diagnosis
is not sufficient; the letter should describe the symptoms that prevent the
applicant from taking public transit. An AAR official reported to MFY that the
MTA does not defer to a person's own doctor, but instead relies upon its own
assessment. Nonetheless, it is optimal to submit a detailed letter from a
treatment provider because it will increase the applicant’s chance of being
approved.

All applicants are required to undergo an in-person
assessment that primarily involves testing for physical disabilities. AAR's
reliance on in-person observation over reports from a person's doctor can make
it very difficult for a person with a psychiatric disability to be found
eligible. For example, while a physical test can be given to an applicant who
claims that a physical disability prevents her from climbing stairs, it is more
difficult to ascertain how an applicant’s anxiety disorder impacts her use of
public transportation. An applicant with a severe anxiety disorder, for
example, can appear calm at an assessment, leading to a denial of the
application even if she provided a compelling and detailed letter from her
treating psychiatrist or therapist about the functional limitations to her
accessing public transportation caused by the disorder.

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
recommends that people whose disabilities are not easily evaluated by an
in-person functional assessment tell the evaluator that their disability cannot
be assessed in that format. An applicant with a psychiatric disability should
direct the evaluator’s attention to her doctor’s letter, and explain why her
limitations cannot be observed during the in-person assessment. An applicant
who cannot advocate for herself can bring someone—a friend, social worker,
therapist, or family member—to help. Because the eligibility determination
relies so heavily on in-person observations at assessment centers, rather than
on reports of functional limitations from applicants’ treatment providers, the
AAR assessment may have the effect of discriminating against people with
psychiatric and other invisible disabilities.

How to Appeal a Denial of an Application

If an applicant is denied AAR, she has a right to an
appeal. But the AAR appeals process suffers from several procedural problems
that prejudice appellants. The agency is required to provide appellants with a
notice that states the reasons for the finding and “an opportunity to be heard
and to present information and arguments.” However, the AAR notices are not
individually tailored to the applicant. The AAR notices simply provide a
laundry list of denial reasons. For example, the denial notice for a person who
applies due to an anxiety disorder may include a list of irrelevant and
confusing statements about physical disabilities, such as “You are able to go
up/down subway steps. You are able to travel three to four blocks to
fixed-route bus/subway station.” It is difficult for an applicant to prepare
for an appeal based on a notice that contains only conclusory and possibly
irrelevant statements.

The difficulty in preparing an appeal is exacerbated by
the fact that the MTA does not provide the applicant with a copy of the record
of her case prior to the appeal, nor does it have a process for the appellant
to secure the record prior to the in-person or written appeal. In fact, the MTA
has told MFY that it has no obligation to do so. The only means to obtain the
record is through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, which is
time-consuming and requires the appellant to pay for copies of her records.
Although MTA points to the availability of the FOIL process as a possible
remedy of its failure to provide the record on appeal, MFY has learned that it
refused to adjourn an in-person hearing until the FOIL records were
produced. Without the record, an
appellant cannot examine the assessments or other evidence relied on by the agency
when it denied her application. This leads to an applicant being confronted at
the hearing with evidence she's never seen, depriving her of the opportunity to
prepare a challenge to the evidence.

Finally, although the MTA offers two options for an
appeal—in writing and in person—it has no publicly available written procedures
that describe its appeal processes. Based on the information we have been able
to gather, MFY recommends the in-person appeal because testimony from the
applicant and, if possible, a mental health professional can be more compelling
than a paper review. In addition, a paper review suffers from the same defects
as the initial assessment—the decision will be based primarily on the AAR
in-person assessment, which the MTA weighs more heavily than an assessment by
the applicant’s own treatment provider.

MFY Legal Clinic to Assist AAR Applicants

To try to
remedy these and other problems, MFY Legal Services, Inc. and Pillsbury
Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP are launching a pro bono project to help people
obtain and maintain eligibility for AAR services. We’ll be holding AAR Legal
Clinics at independent living centers, senior centers, and other community
locations. During those clinics, volunteers will provide a range of services,
including helping people fill out the AAR application, request MTA records
regarding an adverse eligibility determination, appeal a denial of AAR services
to the Paratransit Appeals Board, appeal a suspension of AAR services, or file a
complaint about AAR services with the MTA. To find out the details regarding
the next clinic, please call 212-464-8110 or go to www.mfy.org.